In a move to provide access to affordable healthcare for Kenyans who live outside Nairobi, the government has revealed plans to set up advanced cancer treatment centres in four counties.
The new facilities, set to cost Sh8 billion, will be built in Mombasa, Nyeri, Kisii and Nakuru.
Although the Ministry of Health made great strides in improving provision of healthcare in the last five years, cancer remains one of the leading killer diseases in the country.
There have been calls from many elected leaders, such as the Nyeri MPs, for President Uhuru Kenyatta to declare the disease a national disaster. This is expected to make the government set aside more resources to fight cancer.
President Kenyatta has now named affordable healthcare as one of his Big Four Agenda in the next five years. Others include manufacturing, affordable housing and food security.
The new cancer treatment centre in Kisii is expected to ease pressure on the existing one in Kisumu, which has been receiving an overwhelming number of patients from all over Nyanza and neighbouring areas.
The government created the National Cancer Programme as a way of decentralising treatment for the disease, which has been happening in Nairobi. Stories of long wait times at the Kenyatta National Hospital and lack of enough modern equipment have made the Uhuru Kenyatta administration give the issue a priority, according to Ann Ng'ang'a, who heads the agency.
"We have developed this strategic plan to give us a roadmap on cancer control in Kenya. We are taking time to explain to counties what their roles are in terms of prevention, diagnosis and treatment,” the Standard quoted her as saying during the launch of the 2017-2022 strategy in Kisumu.
The programme is now looking to partner with local organisations to save patients costs.